Creation of Washington D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital

Leaders of the American Revolution envisioned the United States as the next great world empire. George Washington and his allies, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, believed that the capital of that empire should be a commercial as well as political emporium. They spearheaded the effort to place it on the Potomac and make Virginia a preeminent commercial state. The Creation of Washington, D.C. covers the political struggle between the North and the South over the location of the American capital city and explains the origin of Congress's exclusive jurisdiction over the city.